By Jake Donovan
Back to the scene of the crime it is for Antonio Margarito, or so said the Nevada State Athletic Commission on Friday shortly before deciding to table his application to have his license renewed in the state.
A lengthy hearing was held at the end of Friday’s meeting agenda to determine whether or not the former two-time welterweight titlist should have his license reinstated in the state of Nevada. The morning ended with a 4-1 vote by the 5-person panel to not yet review his application until the fighter first reappears in front of the California State Athletic Commission.
“California is most versed in the details of the testimony and what occurred,” Commissioner Skip Avinsino said towards the end of the meeting prior to having his motion on record. “We only have evidence of the details in a secondary sense, whereas California has all of the information first-hand.
“My suggestion to Mr. Margarito is that it could be in his best interest to return to California and allow the commission to ventilate this situation fully. He has served his time and would be willing to hear him out. They should be the first to rule on the situation.”
The motion to table the application means that Margarito will once again be given a chance to apply for reinstatement in Nevada, but not before the CSAC makes a ruling.
The decision is not a denial of his license, which would have effectively resulted in an additional one-year suspension from Nevada, but does prevent him from fighting or negotiating for a fight in the state of Nevada until he is reinstated.
Margarito has not fought in the United States since his knockout loss to Shane Mosley in Los Angeles, California on January 24, 2009. In his dressing room prior to the fight, it was discovered that Margarito’s hand wraps were loaded with a hardened, illegal substance, which ultimately resulted in receiving a one-year suspension from the CSAC.
The ruling prevented him from fighting anywhere in the United States in accordance with the rules of the Association of Boxing Commissions. Though his suspension ended earlier this year, Margarito has yet to be reinstated for a license in the U.S.
Such a ruling throws a monkey wrench into any plans promoter Bob Arum had for matching up Margarito with pound-for-pound king and global superstar Manny Pacquiao.
Arum plans to have Pacquiao return to the ring on November 13, and presumably in Las Vegas judging by the spiked prices for hotel rooms along the strip for that weekend. The first choice is a superfight with Floyd Mayweather Jr, but Arum had Margarito and Miguel Cotto in reserves as the back-up plan should negotiations with Mayweather once again come up empty.
Unless the fight is staged wherever he can get licensed by that time, Margarito is presumably out of the running for that fight or any other major payday until he appears before the CSAC.
Margarito (38-6, 27KO) has only fought once since the Mosley debacle, scoring a 10-round decision over Roberto Garcia this past May in Aguascalientes, Mexico.
The former titlist revealed to the commission during Friday’s hearing that he had plenty of chances to fight beyond the U.S. borders in the past year and change, but instead decided to truly sit out while under suspension.
“I had many opportunities to fight during the suspension, but after talking with my family, what I was decided was to not fight,” Margarito stated to the commission, with the assistance of an on site translator. “Over the past year, I’ve taken steps – I’ve spoken to my new trainer (former 130 lb. champion Robert Garcia) about the process of hand wraps. I’ve paid a high price, but I think I’ve earned the right to come before you and respectfully request to receive my license and fight for my fans.”
Chairperson Pat Lundvall was the lone dissenting vote among the five-person panel, to the point where she felt compelled to issue a statement prior to Commissioner Avinsino’s eagerness to file a motion to table the application.
“It would be my motion to accept the application,” Lundvall boldly stated, who described the suggestion to not vote on the matter as “kick-the-can” management. “He is a fighter who has served his time, so to speak. We don’t give them a type of permanent revocation that prevents them from serving their livelihood. I think he deserves that kind of answer, rather than us passing it off to someone else.”
As far as stating an actual opinion on the subject, Lundvall came across as the voice of reason for a hearing that lasted nearly an hour – in fact, longer than the 31 separate items that preceded this particular portion of the morning’s agenda.
The hearing was drawn out by Margarito’s legal team, which seemed to provide more harm than help by stating that their client was here to offer proof that he accepts full responsibility for what took place last January.
The statement instead opened a door for the panel to further question Margarito on the incident. It was clear that they sought their own proof on whether or not the fighter was not only remorseful, but truly accepting of what took place in the locker room on that evening.
In the end, it was more of the same from Margarito, who merely acknowledged what transpired but stopped way short of accepting responsibility.
“Before the fight, my former trainer – Javier Capetillo – put old knuckle pads on my hand. As I learned later, there was an irregularity with them, but at the time I didn’t realize it. I never felt anything hard or irregular. Everything I felt was a knuckle pad that was normal. At that moment, I was focused on one thing and that was preparing to face (Shane) Mosley.
“If I noticed that there was something wrong or irregular, I would’ve been the first person to say that I wasn’t prepared to fight. The commission had already inspected, reviewed and approved the hand wrap. After it was questioned, I asked Capetillo, ‘Please do it the way they requested,’ as I wanted to warm up for the fight.”
The explanation didn’t seem to sit well with the board, save for the one person who was willing to do more on Friday than simply pass the buck.
“The terms of the punishment indicate that it was based on strict liability,” Lundvall stated, explaining that Margarito was held responsible solely on the strength of his being in charge of the team. “What the commission sought was direct and culpable liability on the part of Mr. Margarito, but instead only found strict liability.”
The one person who was found culpable at the time was Capetillo, who received a lifetime ban from the commission. Margarito fired Capetillo shortly after the fight after having served as his head trainer for more than a decade.
Margarito’s legal team intended to use this as the basis for their argument that their client is in fact an honorable man with an otherwise spotless reputation.
However, who he was and how he carried himself prior to 2009 was not enough to overshadow the fact he still plays the Babe-In-The-Woods role when it comes to accepting full responsibility for what took place.
The ruling by the NSAC shows hints of lingering doubt that Margarito is less remorseful for what took place than for his team actually getting caught in the act of attempting to cheat. The irony is that such bias undertones was the main reason why Team Margarito opted to not appear before the CSAC following the completion of his one-year suspension.
“I’ve come here to the (Nevada) commission to show the world that I don’t need to use anything on my hands in order to fight,” Margarito explained. “I believe the (California) commission was unfair. I’ve already met the punishment they gave me, but believe that even today they still wouldn’t give me a license.”
Not surprisingly, his legal team echoed such sentiments.
“In our view, we are not required to reappear in front of the California commission.”
Four of the five members of the Nevada State Athletic Commission felt otherwise, a wide enough voting margin to inform Margarito that facing the issue head on is the only way to once and for all resolve it.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.
